Got a Minute? 60-Second Activities to Revisit Content (reposted)
Because I’ve been asked about ways to ease lecture-based instructors into more brain-based ways of teaching/training others, I’m reposting this “Got a Minute?” blog entry here. It describes five ways to use 60-second activities to engage learners during the lecture segment of a class or training.
Got too much content to teach in too little time? Can’t stop for lengthy learning games because the important information you have to present takes up all the training time? No problem! Here are five short, quick ways to have learners revisit content in a minute or less.
1. Quick Think: Pause in your content-delivery and tell learners to think about what they’ve just heard. Give them about 15 seconds to do this (count the seconds – the silence will feel uncomfortable to you, at first). Then follow the Quick Think with one of the following activities:
2. Quick Talk: Direct learners to tell a person seated near them from 1 – 3 facts they just learned about the topic. Give them 45 – 60 seconds to do so. Then continue your content-delivery.
3. Quick Write: Give learners 45 – 60 seconds to write a short summary of what they have just learned. If you want to add another 15 seconds to the Quick Write, direct learners to read their summaries to someone seated near them.
4. Quick Stretch: Tell learners to stretch (either sitting or standing) to get more oxygen to their brains, and then follow the stretch with a Quick Talk or Quick Write.
5. Quick Call Out: Have learners call out a pre-determined number of facts they’ve just learned about the topic. Accept all responses. If a response isn’t correct, say, “We’ll revisit that fact” and make a mental note to re-teach the information.
For more variations on the above five brain-based, learner-centered strategies, click on the following articles from my book The Ten-Minute Trainer: 150 Ways to Teach It Quick and Make It Stick:
There are still seats left for Sharon’s “Training from the BACK of the Room” class, to be held April 12th – 13th 2018 in Minneapolis, MN. There is a wait-list for the April 15th 2018 Trainer Certification Course. Please contact Sharon ([email protected]) if you would like more information about either training event. Or contact Training Coordinator Nicole Fleming ([email protected]) to register for the 2-day TBR class or to be put on the wait-list for the April 15th course. Note: You must have attended a TBR class to be eligible to attend the Trainer Certification Course.